The Dallas Cowboys head coach joined the media in a less entertaining setting than Tuesday’s State of the Union address. That featured pomp and circumstance as he was flanked by owner Jerry Jones and CEO Stephen Jones. Prepared to be back in his element on the field, McCarthy stopped to talk to reporters ahead of the team’s first official practice of 2022.
The third-year head coach touched on a series of topics Wednesday. They ranged from how Micah Parsons will be deployed, comparing players work in the spring to in camp, injury updates on several players (PUP designations were announced earlier in the day) and general preparation routines for the upcoming season. There was even a fun exchange over his offseason weight loss and personal training regimen.
Here are the top quotes from the day.
“I think it’s like anything. When you’re in charge of training the football team, you always have angst of ‘I wish I had a little more time over here’ and you steal from Peter to pay Paul and so forth.”
Here McCarthy was espousing on the shortened amount of time that NFL teams are given to practice. He wasn’t complaining, as the NFLPA has worked over the years to limit the amount of time on the field for players as times have changed and there’s so much more conditioning the players are able and willing to do on their own.
But it does impact the littany of things coaches want to accomplish and how they try to squeeze all the teaching in.
“You got one week of ramp up. You got week two, you got four padded practices in five days, and then you get two more padded practices and then we’re off to Denver. So, it’s going to go fast, and everyone has the urgency to stay on top of that.”
Continuing the practice limitations conversation, McCarthy crystalized how the Cowboys will proceed through training camp and the first preseason game is right in front of them.
“That’s why I’ve always been a huge proponent of two-minute drill and up-tempo offense, not as much because that’s the way I would prefer to play on offense. It’s really the way it stresses the defense.”
McCarthy was explaining how important it is for his team to be mentally sharp and quick witted while in the field of play.
“I think we need to max out the mental and emotional challenges.”
McCarthy brought in mental conditioning coach Chad…
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